Adjustable miter box



April 3, 1951 R. E. HESS ADJUSTABLE MITER BOX Filed May 10, 1948INVENTOR. P0551??- E HLJJ ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 3, 1951 OFFICE ADJUSTABLE BIITER BOX Robert Edward Hess,Burbank, Calif., assignor to Miter King Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a

copartnership Application May 10, 1948, Serial No. 26,191

3 Claims.

1 The present invention relates to improvements in an adjustable miterbox. It consists of the combinations, constructions and arrangements ofparts, as hereinafter described and claimed.

With conventional miter boxes, the lumber must be brought to the box forsawing. The principal object of my invention is to provide an adjustablemiter box that can be placed directly on the piece .to be cut and heldin position by hand during the cutting operation. The device is light inweight and therefor can be readily transported to the place whereneeded.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the typedescribed which permits the use of any standard saw. In conventionalboxes the saw is guided by slots provided in spaced uprights. Also aspecial saw is used. In my device the saw guide will accommodate anystandard saw.

A further object of my invention is to provide a base plate with a guidestrip designed to con tact an edge of the board being cut. The baserests on the upper surface of the board and the guide strip aligns thebase in proper position on the wood so that the pivoted saw guide armcan be swung into the desired angular position with respect to the baseand be secured in the adjusted position. The arm has a saw guide inwhich the saw may be reciprocated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a recess in the base ofthe device to facilitate gripping Work pieces of various Widths and tofacilitate the holding of the device in a fixed position on the work.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification,and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing forming a partof this application, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the device;

Figure 2 is an end elevation; and

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken along the line IIIIII of Figure1.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, it should beunderstood that various changes or modifications may be made within thescope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a base A of the shape shown inplan view in Figure 1. The base has a guide strip B extending along theundersurface I of th base and secured in place Ill) by screws 2 or othersuitable fastening means. The screws 2 have conical heads that arereceived in countersunk openings so that the tops of the heads will lieflush with the top 3 of the base. The guide strip parallels the frontedge 24 of the base and is spaced inwardly therefrom.

An arm C is pivotally secured to the top of the base by a cap screw 3,or other suitable pivotal means. A look washer 5 is placed under the capscrew head and bears on the upper surface of the horizontal portion 5 ofthe arm C. Sufficient friction is provided by this connection to preventthe too ready swinging of the arm and yet the operator can swing the arminto the desired angular position. with respect to the base A.

Reference to Figure 1 shows the horizontal portion 6 of the arm providedwith an arcuate slot 7 whose center is the cap screw 6. The edge 8 ofthe portion 6 disposed adjacent to the slot I is made arcuate so as tobe concentric with the slot. The space between the slot 1 and the edge 8is graduated at t in degrees from a zero reading, midway between theends of the slot up to a fifty degree reading at each end of the slot.The upper surface of the base A. has an indicating mark ID thereon andthe operator may swing the arm C to bring any desired one of thegraduations 9 into registry with the mark. A bolt ii carried by the baseA, and guide strip B, see Figure 3, is slidably received in the arcuateslot 1. A wing nut 32 is threaded down upon the bolt for clamping thearm to the base after the arm has been swung into the desired angularposition.

As already stated, the arm C has a horizontal portion 6 that swings overthe top of the base. This horizontal portion 6 has integral andupstanding saw-guiding plate 13. An end plate I4 is spaced from theplate It by spacers 15 that are placed between the two plates andadjacent to the upper edges thereof. Figure 2 illustrates the generalshape of the end plate l4 and the saw-guiding plate is of a similarshape. Bolts I6 are passed through aligned openings in the plates I3 andM and the spacers l5 and secure the plates together. The two plates arespaced a sufficient distance apart to provide a saw-receiving guidewayD, see Figure 3. The same figure and Figure 2 illustrate the plates l3and Hi as being provided with a sight opening or recess, these beingreferred to at l l and E8, respectively. The two recesses I? and I8register with each other and permit the operator to view the wood andthe saw where the cutting is taking place. It will be noted from Figure3 that the lower edge IQ of the end plate It is raised above the uppersurface of the horizontal portion 6 of the arm C. The purpose of this isto avoid any injury to the teeth of the saw when starting a cut in thewood.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of the device, theoperation thereof may be readily understood.

Figure 1 illustrates the piece of wood E to be cut as being placed on atable top F or other suitable support. The base A of the device isplaced on the wood so that its guide strip 13 comes into contact withthe edge 2&3 of the wood. The arm C may be adjusted at the desiredangle. and a 15 degree cut is indicated in Figure l. The saw blade G isplaced in the guideway D and then is brought down onto the top of the.wood The operator can see that the teeth 2| of the saw are registeringwith the line (if any) marked on the wood and then the sawing operationcan be started. The edge 22 of the base A extends at an angle from thepivot cap screw A to permit the arm C to be swung to the left for makinga 50 degree cut. The base A also has a recess 23 with an edge 23a thatis inclined tov the front edge 24 of the base so that the operator maygrip the base with the left hand at this portion, the four fingers ofthe hand contacting the edge 26 and the thumb contacting the edge 23a.In this way the base is kept in proper position on the wood during thecutting operation. The recess 23 also permits small pieces of wood to beheld, such as moldings.

The device will permit the operator to do precision Work. The mainadvantage is that the device can be taken directly to the work insteadof the necessity of moving heavy timbers to the device to be cut. Thereis also no need for special miter box saws being used since a. con.-ventional all purpose saw will prove just as effective, The device ispreferably made from steel or aluminum. The proximity of the edge 23a tothe straight edge 24 permits a hand hold for moving the device. The edge24 in projecting beyond the guide strip B provides a gripping edge forthe fingers.

I claim:

1. In a miter box of the character described a base adapted to rest uponan upper surface of a piece of material to be cut, and having a forwardedge exposed to be gripped by a sawyers hand; a guide strip secured tothe underneath part of the base for butting against a forward verticalface of the piece of material, with the base extending rearwardly overthe material; the rear edge of the base having a recess therein definingend walls to limit sliding movement of the sawyers hand along the base;the recess further defining an inclined edge extending diagonallyrelative to the guide strip, with the recess exposing a section of thepiece of material for manual grasping by the sawyers hand.

2. In a miter box of the character described: a base adapted to restupon an upper surface of a piece of material to be cut, and having aforward edge exposed to be gripped by a sawyers hand; a guide stripsecured to the underneath part of the base for butting against a forwardvertical face of the piece of material, with the base extendingrearwardly over the material; the rear edge of the base having a recesstherein deend walls to limit sliding movement of the sawyers hand alongthe base; the recess further defining an, inclined edge extendingdiagonally relative to the guide strip, with the recess exposing assection of the piece of material for manual grasping by the sawyershand; and a s w guide secured, to h ba e beycnd an end Wa o h re es anddispQs on t at de 9 th rec ss ward which sa d incl n d es in the dirion. 01? th g id str p 3 In a m ter p rof th hara ter d r b a baseadapted to rest upon an upper surface of a piece of material to be cut,and having a forward edge exposed to be gripped by a sawyers hand aguide strip secured to the underneath part of the base for buttingagainst a forward vertical face of the piece of material, with the baseextending rearwardly over the material; the rear edge of the base havinga recess therein defining end walls to limit sliding movement of thesawyers hand along the base; the recess further defining an inclinededge extending diagqnally relative to the guide strip, with the recessexpos ng a e ion of h p c of ma fe manual grasping by the" sawyers hand;the g ide trip being petit o e ea rdly o the f r ard, edg of the se o pran e e hanging ct on oi he bas for g asping bythe sam h nd o the sa yenRQEERT EDW R 17 REFEBENCES GI'IED The following references are of recordin the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATEN TS Number Name Date 868,634 Bender Oct. 22, 19071,111,904 Kahrs Sept. 29, 1914 1,855,945 Denyer Apr. 26, 1932 2,205,095acobs n .--1==--.-. Ju 9

